


Making Their Way Together

by bluepulsebluepulse



Category: Blue Beetle (Comics), DCU (Comics), Impulse (Comics), Young Justice (Cartoon), Young Justice (Comics), Young Justice - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Bluepulse, Bus, But Friends First, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Just a simple little AU, M/M, Speedbuggy, Strangers, Strangers to Lovers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-29
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:28:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27262012
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluepulsebluepulse/pseuds/bluepulsebluepulse
Summary: It's not every day you meet a prospective partner on the bus...
Relationships: Bart Allen/Jaime Reyes
Comments: 16
Kudos: 17





	1. The Wink

**Author's Note:**

  * For [PaintingWithDarkness](https://archiveofourown.org/users/PaintingWithDarkness/gifts).



> So... Idk... I'm just like... Why not post this? Just cause? Here you go... *dumps fic and runs*

Warm winds bent to the will of Bart’s physique, cheering him on as he sprinted his hardest. His vision shook violently like a third rate projector. He narrowed his focus, and now he had one goal. The bus stop. The familiar spluttering of a bus engine was approaching.

“Shit!” Bart hissed under his breath.

The distance still needing to be traveled before him on the footpath was almost as long as the trip home itself. He knew he had to stop thinking about the distance. He was fast. The fastest. He knew he could do it.

Two sienna eyes towards the back of the bus watched from above an impressed grin, as they took in the daily show.

A pair of sneakers - almost as worn out as Bart - scraped against the concrete with no mercy as the young man bolted down the strip, narrowly beating the bus.

The bus door sprung open with the huff of a sore loser; and Bart leaped in through the metallic entryway with a victorious sigh. The rewarding chime of a validated bus pass satisfied the driver’s ear just before he jerked the wheel towards the road again.

With a balance too good to be toppled, Bart managed to stay upright, despite the rocking bus. He glided down the medium strip of the popular mode of transportation, surveying all the empty seats. That was, all except for one.

One seat towards the back of the bus boasted the most gorgeous guy Bart had ever laid eyes on. In fact, catching the bus home  _ had  _ been Bart’s least favorite part of the day; that was, until Mr Hot Stuff had begun catching the same bus home.

Bart grabbed the brass golden pole and swung around it into his comfy seat. Glancing at just the right angle, Bart was able to somewhat discreetly ogle the slightly older looking man in the reflection of the window. Thank god for the sun, reflective surface of the window and science.

A swallow jogged down his throat as his heartbeat took off. The mysterious man was looking even nicer than usual. The delicious caramel skin and short-cropped charcoal hair were still the same, but today he was wearing a different outfit. He was sporting an expensive-looking light-blue cotton shirt rolled up to the forearms, giving him a badass business-man kind of vibe. Bart could only just see the outer leg in the aisle wrapped in tight navy jeans. There was a lucky royal-blue tie clutching tightly to his chest, and even a golden tie pin gleaming halfway down.

Once the safety margin for ogling had passed, Bart stopped staring and popped in his headphones to listen to some dank beats. Not that it mattered, his thoughts were always clouding his head regardless of how loud his music was. It was always,  _ ‘I wonder what his name is?’ _ and  _ ‘I wonder whether there’s a six pack under all of hngh… that?’ _

Biting his lip subtly knowing the stranger couldn’t see his face, Bart drowned in racy thoughts.

Unfortunately a few moments later, a bus-load of queasiness crashed into Bart’s melange of dirty thoughts. His phone jumped to life in his lap with a specific caller ID proudly splashed on the lock screen. It was Iris. The last name Bart wanted to see when thinking about what  _ he  _ was thinking about, was his grandmother’s. Taking a second first to gather himself, Bart answered.

“Hey Grandma! What’s up?”

Jaime smiled warmly at the cheery tone he could hear a few seats ahead of him. Whoever this mentor of Usain Bolt was - because yes he was  _ that  _ fast that he could be the teacher - it was clear he was a really sweet, caring and down-to-Earth guy.

The woman an hour bus ride away tightened the ruby-red apron tassels around her waist. “I was calling to see how hungry you are. I’m making dinner and I wanted to know whether to put on two roasts or one.”

A smirk wafted up onto his lips like the imagery of Iris slaving over a steaming pot. 

“You’re cooking for us?,” he noted sarcastically; before switching to a tone dripping with smart-ass-ery, “Wow! Someone’s in a good mood.”

Pointing the wooden spoon at the wall sharply, Iris retorted, “You might want to think twice before back-chatting the person putting food on your plate.”

“Fair point. But seriously, why the fancy spread?” Bart scratched at his forehead absentmindedly while he waited for the older woman to respond.

“Barry’s friends are all coming around for dinner, so tonight I’m making an effort. Tomorrow… It’s back to Barry’s turn.”

Bart chuckled, “Well to answer you question, I’m starving. So go for two.”

“You’re like an endless void…” Iris shook her head and turned to grab twice as much food.

“Of handsomeness…” Bart ran a hand over his mane of auburn hair, grinning fiercely.

Iris snorted derisively, “If that’s so… why don’t you have a boyfriend yet?”

He bit at the bait indignantly raising his voice ever so, “Hey! Now that’s just moded of you!”

Iris waved the wooden spoon around in her hand before blowing on the tip of it like a smoking gun. She knew just how to wind up her witty grandson. And sometimes, just sometimes, Bart would get one over her head. The student would occasionally become the master.

“Anyway, I’m gonna go. I want to get back to my music. It’s much more crash than listening to you.”

“Is that so-”

Bart sang loudly into the handheld phone as he lifted it to his face in preparation of hanging up, “ _ Bye grandma! _ ”

He chuckled to himself quietly until he felt the tap of a soft chuckle a few seats away tap on his shoulder. Bart immediately swiveled over his shoulder to see the gorgeous man grinning at him shyly.

An overjoyed beam split Bart’s lips. The second Bart’s cash-green irises had locked with ones as warm as the leather of a wallet; the latter’s lowered again apologetically for the obvious eavesdropping.

Bart wanted to reach out and tell him it was okay, before spiraling into a nice, long first conversation that would hopefully result in the strike up of a life-long friendship. But no. It wasn’t possible. A guy as good-looking as Jaime, and from the foreign world of the workforce - if his outfit was anything to go by - meant that they would have nothing in common.

Sure, they had been smiling at one another on the bus for weeks upon eye contact. But that was the extent of it. There would never be anything more. And Bart’s patience proved it. The stranger with a laugh better than any music Bart could possibly play through his headphones, would not meet his gaze again.

Bart sighed before returning to his forward facing position, which is when the enigmatic stranger looked back up again. Tanned fingers wiggled about over the playlist filled with the latest pop songs. Knowing none of the three minute tracks would set him free from thinking about the guy sitting only a few behind him, Bart gave into the temptation to try and forget by pressing shuffle.

Over the course of an hour, the sights of the city slowly became sparse as they transitioned into suburban ones. During the entire trip, none of the jostling about was able to shake Bart free of his thoughts. He was obsessed. This was not good. He knew he had a problem. He just didn’t know how to fix it. He needed to get past this stranger, nothing was ever going to happen.

Bart’s attention slammed into full gear as the loud heavenly chime of a button press rang through the long vehicle. When Bart had looked out the window trying to gauge where the hell he was, he had realized he was only metres away from his stop. The realization leaned into him as harshly as the driver’s foot on the brakes. The only person left on the bus, also known as the hot hunk, had pressed the button despite it not being his stop. Was it possible? Had he just pressed it for Bart knowing that he was stuck in daydreaming mode.

Bart gasped as the bus came to an abrupt halt, but it was more because of the stranger’s actions that he found himself forgetting how to breathe. He leaped to his feet and stopped by the door to spare a look at the man.

Jaime shook his head with a grin and held up a hand as if to say ‘goodbye’. He had decided to press the button on behalf of the cute stranger with his head in the clouds. For someone so fast, he seemed quite slow when it came to being timely in all matters bus-related. He was slow to get organised before the bus arrived and slow to press the button to get off. But ultimately, he had figured, why not help out the guy? The fact he was cute had nothing to do with it. Jaime knew what bus stop he got off at, so he was just being a good civilian.

Once again, a beam broke out on Bart’s face. For a moment he paused as he decided what to do next, and he did what felt natural. Apparently, he felt comfortable enough to give the stranger some attention given their newly found connection. The appreciation burned bright in Bart’s lime eyes which immediately locked onto Jaime’s. Letting his cheeky persona out now that he felt comfortable doing so, he winked his left eye at the stranger before jumping off the bus.

Jaime felt his cheeks flush a faint red like the sleeves of the stranger’s shirt. A moment later, they were completely transparent showing the crimson of his blood beneath; as the stranger saluted him with two fingers from the sidewalk with too much confidence to be human.

The Caucasian man was soon out of sight as the bus began barreling back down the road from which it had come. That didn’t however stop Jaime from leaning backwards to try and watch the guy for as long as he possibly could. Jaime even booted up his emergency peripheral vision to ensure every last frame his eyes could process was of that sweet man’s behind.

He tilted his head as he wondered what he had gotten himself into. One thing was for sure, their next interaction on the bus was going to be an interesting one. Maybe, if he was lucky, the runner would have the confidence to come and sit beside him so they could strike up a conversation. Jaime had been trying to gather the courage to go over and say hello for weeks. There was just something about the cute guy that Jaime couldn’t put his finger on, especially not when he was sitting miles away from him on the bus. He needed to take a chance.


	2. The Sleepyhead

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What can I say? When I can please one of my readers, I will.
> 
> I had this chapter ready to go, and figured why not?
> 
> Enjoy...

Jaime had begun smiling blocks away from the stop where his nameless friend always embarked. He had also come to love this part of the day most too. He never got tired of seeing Bart smile at him when he got on the bus, which was a never ending constant. Lately, Jaime had noticed Bart had been appearing more exhausted each time he hopped on the bus, but that never once stopped the cute stranger from smiling at him. And now, he was nearing that part of the day again.

It didn’t take long until his eyes had to do a double take when they couldn’t spot the athlete running beside the bus to beat it. Granted, Bart had been getting slower as of late, but he had still always managed to catch the bus by the skin of his teeth. But today, he wasn’t anywhere to be seen on the race path. Much to Jaime’s relief, only moments later, he spotted the man. But strangely, he was leaning against a street lamp as if he had no strength in his legs.

In a pathetic show of using his explosive energy, Bart propelled himself off the pole and stumbled onto the bus. That’s when Jaime could see straight away, his eyelids were barely open. He was…  _ really  _ tired.

Jaime leapt to his feet as the bus took off when Bart was still mid-aisle and nearly fell face first into the filthy floor. But by some miracle, Bart managed to hurl himself upright into the same seat he usually took.

The concerned citizen slowly sat back down again as he cautiously watched Bart sway about on his seat. A few minutes later Bart began to topple over as the bus went through a roundabout.

Sucking in a sharp breath of air, Jaime winced as Bart’s head slapped the window as he fell over. That was when enough was enough.

Jaime scratched nervously at his collarbone before standing up and grabbing onto the nearest pole. Like an Olympic gymnast, he swung between each pole with impressive coordination as he traversed the empty seats towards Bart.

When reaching the young man’s seat, Jaime swallowed. He hoped he wasn’t about to make a fool out of himself.

“Hola?”

Bart barely managed to open one eyelid from his slumped position across the entire seat. A small smile surfaced across his lips which put Jaime at ease.

“Can I sit next to you?” Jaime raised an eyebrow, unsure if Bart would even be capable of responding; that being based on the bags under his eyes showcasing a level of exhaustion he had never seen before.

Bart nodded weakly as his brain fired just enough excitement through him to give the energy needed to accept the hand Jaime was offering him. Bart melted back into the seat with a grin as he felt their warm hands wrap together. A slight chuckle fell from Bart’s lips, like he was aware of a secret he wasn’t sharing with Jaime. His secret crush was finally indulging him.

Jaime grinned and pulled Bart towards him gently until he was almost upright beside him. The leaning tower of pretty mumbled something Jaime wasn’t actually able to register.

The taller of the two smiled affectionately before grinning, “C’mere dormilón.”

With his strength, he was able to easily close the small gap remaining between them and prop Bart up against his side before wrapping an arm around him. It was obviously to bolster Bart to his side in an effort to prevent him from falling over and getting a concussion again. The bonus that any passersby who saw them might think they were a couple was only a distant benefit. Jaime wasn’t sure why, but the thought drove him wild. 

Bart nuzzled into Jaime’s neck with a smile, which only made the Latino’s beam widen. Jaime hummed involuntarily as he began to notice the faint scent of cinnamon from the auburn hair.

As the trip progressed, Jaime gently rubbed soothing patterns on Bart’s outer shoulder to put him back to sleep every time he woke up when the inconsiderate bus driver took a corner too hard or went over a pothole. How rude could he be? An angel was trying to sleep back there!

The peaceful ride continued and eventually Jaime began to recognize the landscape. They were nearing Bart’s bus stop. Jaime chuckled guiltily as he rocked Bart gently to try and wake him to no avail.

“Uh… It’s time to wake up. We’re near your stop.”

Bart nuzzled in deeper into Jaime’s neck which he didn’t even realize was possible. Jaime burst out into laughter at the next mumbled response he got.

“Just  _ five  _ more minutes babe…”

Once Jaime had calmed down, he began to worry that maybe the cute stranger had a partner already; and that he was delirious and mistaking Jaime for whoever that lucky person was. As selfish concerns settled, Jaime realized they were about to pass the stop. He quickly reached up with his free hand and pressed the button. The rushed stop didn’t jerk Bart awake, much to Jaime’s surprise. There was no way Bart was capable of walking home alone. He knew what he had to do. Jaime sighed as he awkwardly slumped Bart over his shoulder and helped him off the bus.

Jaime took one step forward and Bart took zero. Jaime laughed and grunted simultaneously as Bart flopped forward, “¡Vamos, extraño guapo, trabaja conmigo aquí!”

After a few moments, Jaime knew he had no choice but to sweep Bart up in his arms and carry him. But there was still a problem. He didn’t know where Bart lived. Usually, he wouldn’t condone such behavior. But he was desperate. Bart was practically non-responsive. If Bart never wanted to see him again after what he was about to do, he would understand. 

Carefully, Jaime plucked the wallet sticking out of Bart’s pocket. Upon opening it, he may have been nosy and taken a gander at the name on the man’s driving license.

Jaime smiled sweetly at the man slung over his shoulder and whispered to him, “You really need to catch some z’s,  _ Bart Allen _ .”

Jaime watched enraptured as Bart smiled, almost as if he somehow heard the remark despite being deader than a doornail. Turning his eyes back to the assortment of plastic credit cards before him, he continued scanning until he found the address on a driver’s license. After a quick google on his phone, Jaime had mapped out the walk to heaven - which was obviously where Bart had come from.

“Gracias a dios!” The walk was only four minutes.

With the adrenaline that came with the relieving discovery, Jaime hoisted Bart up into his arms and began following the route which he had mapped out in his memory.

Of course, by the time Jaime had reached the address, it had been way longer than four minutes. Jaime had had a few close calls where he had almost dropped Bart. Only because the sleeping beauty had stirred a few times and began moving to nuzzle deep into Jaime’s chest again. Whilst Jaime’s broad and muscular arms had no issue supporting the weight of the twenty year old man, it was difficult to not drop him when he moved interestingly quickly.

He eventually reached the front yard of the designated address which still had the porch light on, “ _ Dios _ . Espero que esta sea la casa adecuada.”

Jaime propped Bart down on his feet and rang the doorbell with a quick prayer.

The door swung open to reveal an older man with surprisingly blonde hair for his age. His eyes widened in horror to see what appeared to be an unconscious Bart.

“Oh my god! Bart!”

Whilst Jaime was glad to hear that these people definitely knew Bart, and therefore he had the right house, he was also worried about how to explain his presence.

“Uh. Don’t worry!” Jaime swallowed nervously as he awkwardly handed Bart over. “He’s fine. He’s just really tired.”

“Sorry,” less concerned eyes flicked up from Bart’s face to the strangers, “Who are you?”

Jaime didn’t want to give his name in case his noble act wasn’t received well.

“I uhh- I was on the bus with him.” After gesturing at Bart who was asleep on his grandfather’s shoulder, Jaime continued to explain nervously. “I saw him fall asleep and I tried to wake him up before his bus stop. But he just wouldn’t wake up. I didn’t want to leave him alone in that condition, so I helped get him here.” Jaime swallowed and waited anxiously for a response.

“Wow…” Barry had sounded genuinely impressed by Jaime’s gesture which was relieving for Jaime to hear. “Thank you so much! Is there anything we can do for you? Do you need a place to stay for the night? You can stay here? Or can I at least give you a ride home?”

Jaime wasn’t sure who ‘we’ was for a brief moment, until he realized it was likely the grandmother he had heard Bart taunting on the phone every now and again.

“Gracias…,” he dipped his neck nervously in anticipation of pushback, “But I’ll be fine.”

“Please, I insist.” Barry pleaded sternly, which was exactly what Jaime was afraid of. “You did us a huge favor by making sure our grandson got home safely. I want to make sure you do too.”

Before Jaime could answer, Barry held a hand up and interrupted him before he could speak.

“I’ll just help Bart up to his room and then I’ll be right back down to drive you home.”

Barry grunted as his older muscles struggled with the weight, before it was the hinges turn to do the same for supporting the swing of the heavy door. The click of the door handle rendered Jaime speechless. Apparently, he was obligated to wait until Bart’s grandfather returned to the door to drive him home. Jaime couldn’t help but worry about the awkward ride ahead where he might be asked to explain how he had figured out where Bart lived.

Jaime paced anxiously in a circle on the porch before Barry reappeared with a second wind.

  
“Alright. Let’s go!” He smiled at Jaime reassuringly as he happily swung the car keys around on a finger before catching them in his palm, cutting the merry jingle short. All that was left for Jaime to do, was follow unsurely in the man’s footsteps.


	3. The Drive

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm still trying to post once a fortnight, and so far I haven't missed the mark!
> 
> Sorry I haven't had much time for writing with work being so hectic atm.
> 
> Here... Enjoy this chapter which I wrote an eternity ago.

While the electric roller door receded into the back of the garage, Jaime scratched nervously at the base of his neck. He really hoped Barry wouldn’t be upset that he had gone through Bart’s wallet. He was also dreading being asked other questions such as how he knew where Bart’s bus stop was. Clearly he had been paying a decent amount of attention to the stranger’s grandson - at least enough attention to warrant a few questions.

“Are you alright sport?”

“Huh?”

Jaime’s eyes bolted over to find the source of the voice. His vision was a bit shaky at first, but he eventually found the pair of sapphire eyes; which were strangely reminiscent of Bart’s despite being blue instead of green.

A friendly beam asked him for the second time, “What’s your name?”

It was only now that Jaime had noticed a hand fully extended to him. He wondered whether it was worth wiping his sweaty hand on the front of his pants first, but ultimately decided against it knowing how obvious that would be. Cringing, Jaime accepted the hand and shook it firmly.

“Jaime.” He decided to keep his last name to himself since he wasn’t out of the woods yet.

“Nice to meet you Jaime. I’m Barry, Bart’s grandfather.”

Jaime simply nodded with a nervous smile and watched as Barry walked away from the porch to the garage door. After opening it, he disappeared for a moment before reversing out in a car.

The window whirred down before Barry nodded to the passenger seat with a smile, “Come on.”

Without responding, Jaime walked around and hopped into the car. The first thing he did was secure his seatbelt since he didn’t know how safe or dangerous Barry’s driving skills were. Harboring a breath fugitive until Jaime knew it was safe to release, he watched as Barry calmly took to the road. He breathed again feeling relief for the fact that Barry did indeed drive his age.

After giving Barry his home address, the two sat in an awkward silence; or at least, it felt awkward to Jaime. Eventually Barry was no longer able to hold his tongue since the GPS had been quiet for too long and he wasn’t one for music when driving.

“Are you feeling okay Jaime?” He laughed a little as he took his eyes off the road for a moment. “Are you worried about me asking about  _ how  _ you found out where my grandson lived?”

Jaime stiffened like a statue after opening his mouth to speak, but no words would flow.

The driver’s grin widened, “I’ll take that as a yes… Look Jaime. You seem like a good guy. I’m not mad that you went into Bart’s wallet.”

Shooting bullets of sweat, Jaime rubbed his forehead. There was a compliment in that slab of annoyingly good perception so he answered with a meekly, “Gracias.”

“I mean you’d have to be? You wouldn’t have walked him all the way home if you weren’t a good person.”

The good Samaritan was being showered in an appreciative glance. It was evident that Barry wanted him to take some credit for the kind gesture.

“I just- didn’t want the people that cared about him to worry,” he admitted modestly.

“Well we  _ were  _ worried. But  _ you  _ got him safely, so we’re really grateful.”

Jaime watched as Barry set his sights back to the road and concentrated on the highway that they were merging onto. Unsure of what came over him, he veered into dangerous territory.

“It was no trouble... I figured Bart’s  _ parents  _ or  _ girlfriend  _ would be worried about him…”

Barry glanced over a little too quickly with an indecipherable look in his eyes. Even more unsettling, was the way he slowly frowned as if Jaime had hurt him, before looking back at that road. The pin that you could have heard drop in the silence popped a balloon of nerves in Jaime’s stomach. He felt like he needed to roll down the window beside him and share a gift with the gutter. Luckily, Barry spoke up again to distract him from hurling guilt.

“Bart’s parents passed away a long time ago...”

“Ay… Lo siento,” he quickly pinched his nose before translating, “I mean! I’m really sorry.”

“It’s okay…” His somber tone suddenly detoured into a smug one, and it was accompanied by a smirk aimed over at Jaime. “And Bart doesn’t have a girlfriend.”

“Oh.” Not wanting Barry to think he was invested, Jaime turned to try and hide the thick swallow that had to pass. Little did Jaime know, Barry had noticed it in the side mirror.

“I have a suspicion that he’s got a crush on someone at the moment actually. I asked him about it but he just denied it of course. But I can tell by the googly eyes he comes home with every night.” Barry chuckled to himself and gently tapped his hand on the steering wheel. He was really glad to see that Jaime had joined in on the laughter, at least for a moment.

“Every night huh?” Jaime sighed kind of disappointedly as he ruled himself out.

Barry quickly corrected himself, “Every  _ weeknight _ .” The driver looked over with a grin wider than the road. “I think it’s  _ someone  _ he’s been eyeing off on the bus...”

The Latino’s face went as red as the stop sign Barry suddenly pulled up at. Jaime licked his now-dry lips and avoided eye contact with the smug man staring over at him.

He cleared his throat as the engine started up again, “You uhh… seem pretty confident.”

“I know my grandson. You’re  _ exactly  _ his type.” The blonde chuckled once more.

Jaime nodded slowly, face still concerningly red. “May I ask why you’re telling me this?”

“Well… I get the feeling your dedication to my grandson doesn’t stop at just knowing where his bus stop is…”

Before Jaime could say another word, his phone provided a welcome distraction. Somehow his phone always seemed to vibrate more intensely when his mother was calling.

In a pleading voice, Jaime begged for mercy. “Hola ma. ¡Casi estoy en casa!”

Jaime jerked the phone away from his ear as his worried parent yelled her motherly heart out. He knew the stress was all coming from a place of love, but damn it was annoying.

Trying to get a word in edgewise, Jaime supplied, “Si. Si. Puedo explicarlo.”

Barry couldn’t even speak Spanish and even he was able to translate Bianca’s response to the likes of ‘you better hope so’.

“Bien. Te veo pronto. Adiós.” Jaime cringed and hung up before sliding the phone away into his pocket, not sure of where to pick up with his and Barry’s conversation. After exhaling nervously, Jaime tried for an apology to begin with. “Lo siento...”

The driver shook his head and chuckled before singing, “ _ Soooo _ Bart’s type.”

Jaime felt his never fully gone blush raging back up to the surface again; so naturally, he sunk deeper into the car seat hoping to hide from the world. And fortune tossed him a freebie as the GPS announced that they were at their destination, which forced Barry to pull over. Jaime was quick to hop out before their conversation could continue any longer.

“Thank you for the ride home Barry. I really appreciated it.” He teetered nervously on his feet.

“And thank  _ you  _ for looking after Bart. I hope that I’ll see you again at some point.”

Instead of responding, he simply held up a hand to say goodbye and walked away from the car ride that he had never expected. He didn’t even look as Barry drove off with the grin still intact.

He jogged up to the front door and wasn’t even able to bring his fist down to the grain of wood before it had swung away from him. He sighed at the sight. Bianca’s arms were folded unhappily across her chest and there was no way he was going to be allowed further into the house than the hallway without providing a reasonable explanation. So she started in on him.

“¿Dónde estabas Jaime Reyes? ¡Estaba muy preocupado!”

Jaime looked off to the side as he began gathering up a lie in his arms to gift to his mother, but she knew her son well enough to catch on, giving him a stern warning in advance.

“No te atrevas a pensar en mentirme. No mentimos en esta casa.”

All out of options, he sighed and surprised Bianca with the vulnerable truth that she had not been expecting.

“I helped out this guy who fell asleep on the bus and carried him home,” he momentarily held up a hand for storytelling purposes.

Bianca calmed down a bit, “I don’t understand? Why are you acting secretive about that?”

“Because,” he wiped a hand over his face with a frustrated huff, “I think he’s…”

“What?” The curious word rested on her lips. She wasn’t sure if this would finally be the moment Jaime would come clean about the secret which he had literally done a terrible job at hiding.

Looking back at his mother like he was being tortured for information, Jaime barely managed to croak out the truth, “I want to ask him out on a date....”

“So,” she grinned, folding her arms again but in a softer stance, “Why don’t you then?”

A boggled Jaime looked up so fast his brain rattled. “¡¿Qué?!” Jaime spluttered. “What do you mean ‘why don’t I’? He’s a guy doesn’t that bother you?!” Only now did Jaime process the smile on Bianca’s face. “ _ Oh… _ You knew already didn’t you?”

Bianca nodded smugly causing Jaime to groan and bury his face in his hands. She laughed and wrapped her son in a warm hug. She knew that she’d likely spend the next hour comforting him as he recovered from the realization. But she loved her son and she made sure to tell him so.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments will help brighten my day, so feel free to leave one. :)

**Author's Note:**

> Umm... I guess if you like it, let me know so I know whether or not to keep it in mind for updates in the future?
> 
> I mean I already have a shockingly long to-do list (but I never forget about the items on it).
> 
> I've still got gifts I'm actively working on in the mood as well as updates to numerous other fics of mine. My archive is the definition of chaos rn...
> 
> But yeah, leave a comment? :)


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